


Peter's Fears and Unhealthy Sleeping Habits

by HolyKingWasteLand



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Adopted!Peter Parker-Stark, And coffee, Because I can, Caffeine, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I mean with energy drinks, Light Angst, Like, May's dead lmao sorry, Nightmares, Peter Parker Feels, Peter Parker Has Anxiety, Peter Parker Has a Family, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony is Peter's last living relative, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, also I put this off for a month because I forgot about it lmao, and Peter is Tony's, but I'm happy with it, enjoy, father and son fluff, godfather tony, i don't beta anything, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-05-27 19:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15031961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolyKingWasteLand/pseuds/HolyKingWasteLand
Summary: Tony comes back from a business trip to find out that Peter has locked himself in the lab the whole time Tony was away.





	Peter's Fears and Unhealthy Sleeping Habits

 

Tony exits the car as Happy trails behind him with his luggage. They walk in through the front doors of the Avengers Compound and into the elevator where FRIDAY greets them.  
"Welcome home boss, where to?"

"My room please Fri," Tony says exhaustedly as he takes off his sunglasses and pulls his tie a little looser. Friday takes them up to Tony's private floor; the they walk to the room and enter. Happy puts the bags down against the wall and leaves as Tony makes his way to the en-suite for a well deserved shower.

 

Tony takes his time, then gets out and gets dressed into some old jeans and an ACDC t-shirt. He drapes the towel over his head and ruffles his hair to dry it. "Hey Fri, where's the kid?"

"Peter is currently in your lab, boss." FRIDAY replies, making Tony pause. It wasn't that Peter couldn't go in there without him, but it was an unlikely occurrence. Tony resumes drying his hair as he makes his way across the room to the hallway. He gets to the elevator and lets the towel hang around his shoulders as they go down to the lab.

"How long has he been in there?" He asks curiously, running a hand through his damp hair in an act of nonchalance.

"Four days, eight hours, and twenty four minutes." FRIDAY states, and then adds, "Approximately, the same amount of time since you left for your business trip, sir." Tony narrows his eyes at that and the doors open. He steps up to the glass door and control panel and types in the password.

The door slides open and he enters, glancing around the dimly lit room as he does so. Dirty dishes are piled "neatly" underneath the workbench, and trash is overflowing out of the metal bin Tony has. Peter is sitting on his usual stool, with his head resting on his arms on the bench top; a hand clenching around an energy drink.

 

"Pete?" Tony says softly, trying not to startle the boy. Peter shoots up and falls backwards off of the chair and onto the floor, throwing the drink at the man out of reflex.

Tony shouts in surprise and ducks away from the offending metal can, letting it  _thunk_ against the opposing wall. He looks down at his surrogate son on the cold floor; Peter's eyes are blown wide and bloodshot. "D-d-dad?" Peter stutters, blinking rapidly, as if he's not certain of what he's seeing.

"Kid-" Tony kneels down in front of the boy and puts a gentle hand on his shoulder. "What are you doing in here? In the dark, at that."

Peter swallows thickly and licks his chapped lips, his eyes darting away to the fallen stool. "Doing stuff." He replies vaguely, leaning back on shaky hands to appear nonchalant. Tony sees through it, but lowers his hand back to his own lap.

"Yeah right. C'mon kid, you're going to bed." Tony says and pulls Peter up with him. The boy stands up but pulls out of his hold with frightened eyes, like an easily startled animal. "Peter,"

"N-no, I can't! I h-have to stay awake," Peter says more-so to himself, walking over to the pack of unopened energy drinks. He rips the plastic open and tries to grab one, his hands shaking violently. Tony huffs and pulls Peter's hands away from the drinks and holds them firmly.

"Peter, why do you have to stay awake?" He asks softly, hating the way Peter's eyes dart around the room as if calculating an escape. "..Are you having nightmares again?" Peter's eyes meet his and he nods once, albeit hesitantly. Tony nods with him and cups the back of his neck, pulling the boy's head onto his shoulder. "You're okay Peter," The words are whispered, and Peter clutches to Tony's shirt tightly.

 

They stand in the middle of the lab for a few minutes, giving Peter time to collect himself.

"I.... I can't sleep dad, please don't make me.." Peter's muffled voice is barely audible but Tony hears it. His hold on Peter tightens and he wraps his arms further around his boy.

"You can't just avoid sleeping Peter, your body can't handle it. It'll start shutting down," Tony mumbles gently, and Peter tenses. Tony pulls away and looks into his son's eyes. "Do you want to talk about them?" Peter seems to consider it, a soft frown on his face, and then shrugs. "Alright. Come up stairs, I'll make some hot chocolate, okay?" He proposes, a small smile on his face. Peter's mouth mirrors his and he nods silently.

"Awesome, let's go."

 

.

.

 

Tony walks back into the lounge room with two hot chocolates in his hands. He sees Peter snuggled up in a blanket against the side of the couch exhaustedly. Tony sets the cups down gently on the coasters Pepper demands he use because "the coffee table is expensive and looks nice without rings stains".

"How ya feelin' buddy?" He asks, taking a seat beside his son, who opens his eyes and smiles at him.

"Tired." Tony laughs.

"That's understandable underoos, you've been awake- what, four days?" A soft nod confirms that Tony is right. "You wanna tell me what's eating away at ya?" Tony lifts the hot chocolate to his lips and takes a sip, before recoiling at the burning temperature.

Peter's smile drops from his face and he looks away again. Another shrug. Tony sighs, "Come on Peter, you gotta talk to me." He puts the drink back down and makes a back-and-forwards motion between them. "I'm not a mind reader, so for this to work, you gotta tell me with words. Or hell, if it makes it easier, I'll get you my StarkPad and you can write it all down instead!" Peter's mouth quirks up slightly and he takes a small breath.

"I... Every time I close my eyes.. I can just see you-" He chokes on his breath and exhales shakily, wiping a tear from his eyes. "It's different every time- not always the same but.. I see you...." He looks scared, and his eyes flicker up to meet Tony's before darting back to the couch. "...d-dead.."

Tony takes a deep breath and his heart shatters. Peter looks so fragile, wrapped up in his blanket, his nose and eyes red, with tears spilling over his cheeks. "Oh Peter.." Tony breathes. He moves closer and pulls Peter into his arms, holding him as his kid cries against his chest.

"And I just- I-I can't do it... I can't see you die again.." Peter sobs, clutching the back of Tony's shirt. "Please.. not again.."

"It's okay Peter, I'm right here." Tony comforts, pressing a kiss against the kid's chocolate brown hair. "I'm not going anywhere. So you're stuck with me," He jokes and earns a laugh/sob from Peter.

"Good," Peter whispers against his chest, earning a warm chuckle from the man. Their drinks sit abandoned on the coffee table, cooling down as they cuddle in a comfortable silence.

 

.

.

 

As they near on an hour, Tony suggests moving to a more comfortable place. He feels Peter stiffen under him, but the boy doesn't pull away.

"L...Like where?" Peter asks hesitantly.

Tony exhales gently and combs a hand through his son's hair. "Like to bed, Pete." He says softly, and feels Peter pull away. The boy looks ready to drop into unconsciousness, but still stubborn as ever. (Wonder where he got that from) "Come on, up up." Tony shuffles off of the couch and pulls Peter up with him again. "I can't carry you like I used to, you've grown up!" Tony ruffles his hair and adds, "But you'll always be my little guy, no matter how old you get."

Peter smiles at him lovingly and wraps his arms around his chest, resting his head on his dad's shoulder comfortably. "And you'll always be my dad.." He replies, feeling Tony's arms wrap around him in return. "Love you," He whispers.

Tony's face lights up in a giddy grin and he says, "I love you too, Peter." ... "But don't think that this deceleration of parental love is gonna stop me from getting you to bed." He jokes and it makes Peter bark out a startled laugh. Peter pulls away and makes a face at him.

"I would never!" He says, putting a hand against his chest in mock offence. Tony rolls his eyes playfully and ruffles Peter's hair once again.

"Bedtime, come on little spider." Peter pouts but follows behind his dad, holding his hand as he's dragged along. Down the hallway to the elevator, then up to their private floor. There are only two bedrooms on this floor; Peter's and Tony's.

 

As soon as Tony adopted him when he was a child, he wanted to make sure Peter was always within hearing distance in case of nightmares or emergency. Since Peter had really bad nightmares about his parents, and his aunt and uncle dying. Tony (his godfather; courtesy of his mum and dad's connection to the man) took him in without hesitation, having already known the little boy since he was born.

 

Peter stops outside of his door but gets pulled along as Tony keeps walking. "Uhh, dad? My room's back there?" Peter states the obvious and Tony looks back at him with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah I know kid, I picked it out for you." Tony says with amusement lacing his tone.

"Then... where are we going?" He knew the only place they  _could_ be going on this floor, but surely not..

They stops outside Tony's room and he pushes open the door, letting Peter walk in as he holds is open. Peter tentatively takes a seat on the edge of Tony's bed; he hasn't been in this room in a while.. He has no real reason to come in here since Tony always comes to his bedroom when he has a nightmare, and the man can nine out of ten times be found in his lab- rather than his room.

"What..?" He's shushed by Tony who pulls the covers down and ushers Peter to climb in. Peter does as he's told, discarding his throw blanket on the ground as he wraps the bed blankets around himself. Tony tugs his shoes off and then climbs in the opposite side of the large bed.

Tony opens his arms and lets Peter snuggle up against his chest. He pulls the blanket comfortably around them and presses a kiss to Peter's temple, making the boy hum and look up at him in question. "Yeah?"

"Nothing son, time to sleep."

"Mkay... goodnight...."

"Goodnight Peter, I love you."

"Love you too.." Peter mumbles, finally letting sleep pull him under, no longer afraid when he's securely in his dad's arms. He'd protect him; make the bad dreams go away.

 

They both sleep soundly that night.

**Author's Note:**

> [My Tumblr!](https://holykingwasteland.tumblr.com/)


End file.
